


Let's Make It Three

by AtomicFireSymphony



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, F/M, Fluff, Infertility, Medical Experimentation, baby talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-09-04
Packaged: 2018-07-19 07:04:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7350844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AtomicFireSymphony/pseuds/AtomicFireSymphony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose comes to The Doctor with a proposition; she wants a baby.  He is absolutely up to the task, but there are some road blocks along the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was a late autumn night and the brisk outside air chilled every inch of the flat. It had a heating system, but the old thing didn’t keep up. Rose and The Doctor were curled up on the couch together, a heap of blankets stacked on top of them for warmth. When Rose first cuddled up to him, The Doctor and her talked for a bit, but it hadn’t been an eventful day. Rose eventually immersed herself into a book. They’d been snuggled together for a good hour when The Doctor could feel himself beginning to doze off. The familiar comfort of Rose’s body pressing him into the couch cushions and the lack of stimulus always seemed to do that.

“I started a project in the kitchen with that old blender,” he finally said, his voice vibrating the back of Rose’s head.

“What’re you trying to piece together?” Rose asked, setting the book down on her lap.

“I’m not quite sure yet,” he responded, “I have most of the parts for a scanner, but there wouldn’t really be a purpose for that. This universe seems to have far less extraterrestrial intrusions that the last one.”

“It gets kinda boring, don’it?”

“Well, that’s an overstatement. I wouldn’t have spent so much time hanging around Earth if I found humans boring. And I have you.”

His head gently rested on top of hers and Rose couldn’t help but let a smile blossom.

“Doctor?”

“Mm-hm?”

“Have you ever thought about having a baby?”

It wasn’t a question The Doctor was expecting. Two years of marriage and they’d never really discussed the subject. They’d had sex in the past, but protection had been a given. Neither had thought much about the alternative, at least in the bedroom. 

“I have,” he responded after a thoughtful pause.

And oh yes he had. The Doctor had spent many hours imagining what a little Doctor-Rose would be like: intelligent, adventurous, energetic, and mischievous, if they were anything like their father. The imaginary baby always had blond hair, although The Doctor hadn’t a clue what his genetics would pass down. That was part of the fascination, too. How much Time Lord would there be in that child? He wasn’t even sure how much was in himself.

“Do you want a baby, Rose?” he asked.

“Oh God, yes,” Rose responded without any hesitation, “You know two weeks ago when we watched Tony for Mum and Dad while they were away in Weymouth? I spent the whole time just marveling at him: his big blue eyes, that soft hair of his, the way he would argue with us over the stupidest things.”

The Doctor chuckled.

“I’d never really given much thought to having kids before, but having him here was so... different. Sure, he was a challenge sometimes, but he just made every day brighter. I’d make him a cheese sandwich for lunch and he’d give me the biggest smile in the world. He found a toad in the park and didn't shut up about it for hours. The best part was watching you with him. I came out one morning to the two of you sitting on the couch together. He was swaddled up in that blanket of his and you had him entranced in a story about travelling in the TARDIS. His eyes never left your face.”

The Doctor smiled at the memory; children had the biggest imaginations. He would have loved to see what Tony had seen when he told that story.

“I found myself spending hours online doing research. Just last night I spent two hours reading up on pregnancy.”

“Where was I during this?”

“You were playing with the blender.”

“I did that for two hours? I wouldn't spend that much time on a project.”

“Oh, don’t give me that. You’ve spent days toying with different devices. Remember when I dropped my mobile on the pavement outside? I didn’t see you for three days.”

“I fixed it, though.”

Rose smirked, “The screen was still cracked.”

“Fixing cracks is significantly more difficult without sonic technology.”

“You should build a sonic screwdriver from that blender laying in pieces out in the kitchen.”

“I’m going to need a lot more than a blender to do that.”

There was a pause before The Doctor spoke again, “Of course I’ll have a baby with you, Rose.”

A warm happiness spread through Rose, resulting in one of the biggest smiles to have ever crossed her face. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly, a grin of his own lighting up his face.


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor and Rose had taken part in frequent sex in the past, especially during those early months in their relationship as The Doctor discovered the wants and needs of his new body and Rose finally got her full, unreserved Doctor. That had died down over the years as the couple found a happy equilibrium between their jobs, sex, and just enjoying each other’s company. With a newfound motive, however, that following week became a very passionate one, much to their enjoyment. 

“We should have done this sooner,” Rose joked one night as the two lay naked in bed. Her hand rested comfortably on his back, gently tracing the contours of his spine. The Doctor smirked, “I had no idea you would like _that_ so much.”

“Me neither,” she smiled, her cheeks flushing pink. The Doctor turned onto his side to look at Rose. Her hair was pretty disheveled, which was mostly his fault. She also had beads of sweat collecting on her face, which was also mostly his fault. She was still gorgeous, and The Doctor couldn’t help but grin at how lucky he was to have her.

Rose let out a large yawn. “You tire me out, Doctor,” she said, letting her eyes close and the post-coital peace she often felt settle in.

“Well, technically speaking, I am much younger than you. There’s a lot of pent up energy rolling around in this body of mine.”

“I think it’s just your personality.”

The Doctor slipped his arm under Rose and pulled himself next to her.

“You’re all sweaty,” Rose said, her nose crinkling slightly.

“So are you. This bloody flat is cold enough you’ll be glad I’m snuggled up to you in a few minutes.”

She nuzzled into his side and mumbled, “I already am.”

\---

Rose stared at the trashcan next to the toilet with frustrated confusion. She’d done four pregnancy tests in the past week and every single one had come back negative. The last one now lay on top of pieces of toilet paper and soap wrappers. It was well past when she should be getting positive results. The couple had been trying for three months to no avail. After taking a long moment to breathe, Rose stood and pulled up her pants. 

She felt a strong need to talk to The Doctor. She hadn’t mentioned any suspicions earlier on with the hope that the negative results were caused by some weird circumstance. Now she was worried. What if they couldn't have children at all?

No. No, she wouldn’t jump to that conclusion.

“Doctor?” Rose called as she exited the bathroom. He wasn’t in their bedroom, nor the living room and kitchen. A loosely scrawled noted was attached to the refrigerator. 

“Went out to the store in search of some parts. Will be back soon. Love you.”

Rose let out a small sigh and set the note on the counter. Should she call him? No, this was something she wanted to talk about in person. Waiting would be hell, though. Her anxiety over the issue was beginning to gnaw more and more at her brain. Busy work was what she needed. What needed to be done? 

Vacuuming. She’d been asking The Doctor to vacuum their bedroom for days. Rose dug around in the closet, pulling out an old dusty machine that she’d picked up cheap in an antique shop. Their bedroom wasn’t large and it only took her a few minutes to finish the job. She continued to focus on other chores around the house, even as her skin grew increasingly hot and her vision blurred. 

Finally, as Rose was washing silverware in the kitchen sink, she heard the door unlock and a familiar set of footsteps enter the flat. She turned around, drying her hands on her pants. Even though The Doctor met her with a friendly grin, it immediately faltered when he saw how troubled she was.

“What’s wrong, Rose?”

She took a deep breath before she answered, “I’ve done four consecutive pregnancy tests and every single one has come back negative.”

“Oh,” he said, questions beginning to overtake his eyes.

“Can you do some scans? Figure out what’s wrong?”

“Well, I don’t have anything that would do scans like that. What I would do for the TARDIS right now… I could build something, but it would take about a week.”

“I don’t want to wait any longer.”

“Me neither.”

“Should we schedule an appointment with a fertility specialist?”

“I suppose so.”

Rose nodded and The Doctor came forward, taking her still wet hands into his own, “We’ll figure this out.”


	3. Chapter 3

“I’m sorry Mrs. Tyler, but we can’t schedule an appointment until you have had at least twelve months with no success.”

“Blimey, people have to wait an entire year before they can even get help?”

“Once again, I’m very sorry Mrs. Tyler. Please come back if you keep experiencing issues.”

Rose ended the call and stuffed her mobile back into her pocket. How did people go that long without a clue as to what was happening? 

Hope, she decided. 

Rose found The Doctor in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on another device she didn’t quite know the purpose of. She leaned against the doorway and watched him work. His glasses were resting a little too far down his nose, requiring him to lean in very close to his device instead of realizing they needed adjustment. His eyes were completely focused and glinting with determination.

“Doctor?” she asked quietly, not quite sure if she should even bring up the subject right now.

He twisted one more screw before slowly leaning back and meeting her eyes, “How’d it go?”

“They said they can’t schedule an appointment until we’ve been experiencing issues for another nine months.”

He set down the disappointingly unsonic screwdriver and looked at her with shared frustration, “I guess I’ll have to get to work on that Deoxyribonucleic Acid Analyzer. I mean, I was planning to, anyways, since I'm sure they won't have anything as technologically advanced as what I can fix up. I bet if I start now, I can have it done by next month. I’ll need a decent processor, which will either mean driving to that computer parts shop on the other side of London or ordering one online. Or I could tear apart one of our… no, none of them are new enough. I’ll also need a-”

His eyes fell on the project that sat in front of him and he let out a small sigh before grumbling, “Oh, that’s lovely.”

Rose smirked, “You can’t find another one?”

“No, that was the only power band I’ve been able to find in all of Great Britain.”

“Have you checked the internet?”

“Of course. All of the ones I found were made with those stupid American measurements.”

“What is this device for, anyways, that it needs a power band?”

“It detects the foreign particle count in the carpet, then alerts the user when it needs to be vacuumed.”

“So you made yourself a reminder to vacuum?”

“Weelll-”

Rose’s smirk bloomed into a full blown smile and she walked over and kissed The Doctor on the top of his head, letting her hands trail briefly through that lovely hair of his before travelling over to the kitchen area to start a kettle on the stove, “What else do you need for the deoxy… thing.”

“The Deoxyribonucleic Acid Analyzer?”

“I’n that just DNA?”

“Deoxyribonucleic acid?”

“Yeah.”

“It is. See, you don’t need A Levels to be brilliant.”

The Doctor paused for a moment, realizing his comment might not bode well.

“Well, I mean, if you wanted to go back to school you cou- I was just trying to say… you don’t _need_ to…”

“I know,” Rose said, smiling to reassure him.

The Doctor turned back to look at his carpet scanner, “I will need to draw up some plans before I know exactly what I need. I have an idea, but this human brain of mine can be so murky. It's hard to focus on the individual parts of large ideas. I’m worried I’ll forget something.”

“That's what it's like for most of the world. Why do you think mobiles are so popular? It keeps track of everything for us."

Rose paused to pull tea bags out of the cupboard before asking, "How much do you think this will all cost?”

“It will barely cut into our grocery budget; I’m very good at sniffing out deals.”

“Are you planning another trip to the rubbish dump?”

“Oh yes.”

\---

That following Saturday, The Doctor arrived home with his arms full of scrap metal and computer parts. His trousers were cut at the knees from what Rose assumed was a fall, and she wondered if his hands had the same story to tell. Despite the wounds and the lingering scent of garbage, The Doctor entered their flat with an air of excitement. 

"Rose, you wouldn't believe the kinds of things people throw out!"

"You say that every time you come back from there."

"I find so much treasure every time! There were more computer parts out there than I knew what do with, which is saying something."

"So you found what you were looking for?"

The Doctor nodded adamantly as he gently unleashed his armful of supplies onto the kitchen table. He then turned to Rose and wrapped her up in a hug before planting a deep kiss on her lips.

"You need a shower," she laughed. 

"Do I?" The Doctor asked with smirk that implicated he had a lot more than that on his mind, "Maybe you'd like to come join me?"

Rose snorted, "That's a line."

The Doctor raised an inquisitive eyebrow, the offer still standing.

"Yeah, alright," she grinned, letting The Doctor guide her to the bathroom.


	4. Chapter 4

After thirty seven days of obsessive scrounging and building, two hundred and fifty nine cups of tea, six days of holiday due to lack of sleep, and a couple of slightly awkward nights collecting samples, The Doctor and Rose were finally awaiting some results. The Doctor had finished the device at midnight and too much pent up anxiety had gotten the better of them. The couple had decided to stay up even later as the machine analyzed their samples and The Doctor interpreted its results.

Finally, just as Rose’s eyes became so heavy it was impossible to keep them open any longer, The Doctor turned around and gently shook her into alertness.

“Rose, I’m done.”

She blinked and felt her brain straining against itself to listen attentively.

“Your gametes are perfectly fine. It’s mine that are the problem.”

“How d’ya mean?”

“Well, they won’t form a zygote with yours. When I looked more closely at the genetic code, it was clear that some of it is still Gallifreyan; I guess an entire handsworth. I’m still not 100% human, and that slight discrepancy is making me incompatible with you, with any human.”

The Doctor paused to turn away from Rose, looking back at the screen that was filled with numbers and figures telling a disheartening story very few could decipher. 

“I should have known this would happen, it makes sense. Genetic engineering never does seem to go smoothly, but- oh no... Donna... Rose, this means Donna was still very much human. She would have started to derail; the Timelord thought process would have fried her brain!" 

The Doctor felt Rose's hand on his shoulder, a firm, comforting touch, "If anything happened, he would have figured it out and fixed it. Donna was his best mate."

The Doctor nodded and let a pregnant pause overtake the room. Quietly, his throat holding the words back, he said, "I don’t know what to do." 

Rose leaned back in her chair, not sure what she should say, not even sure how she felt. It slowly rolled over her - crushing disappointment. Up until now she had held out hope that there wasn’t a major issue, nothing she and her brilliant Doctor couldn’t figure out. He was utterly at a loss for what to do next and it pulled that comfort right out from under her. But, if she lost hope, he wouldn't even try to reach for it, so she put on a brave face.

“Doctor?”

“Mm-hm?”

“Let’s go to bed. We can start to figure something out in the morning when we’re not so exhausted.”

The Doctor nodded and turned off the analyzer, the room suddenly going very dark without the brightness of the screen.

\---

Rose awoke before The Doctor the following day.

She made her way out to the kitchen table before the news from the previous night rolled over her. She ran her hands through her hair as she swallowed the lump of heat rising up her throat. Why did this hurt so much? Why were there tears swelling up in her eyes? She’d always known this was a possibility for couples, she’d just never imagined it applying to themselves. Her mother had no trouble giving birth to little Tony long after she had turned thirty-five. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. It would be alright, there were other options.

The Doctor entered the room, a look of despondency having overtaken him she hadn’t seen in this Doctor before. “It’s my fault,” he said quietly, “It’s my stupid DNA. If you’d gone and fallen in love with some normal bloke…” He stopped there to suck in a shaky breath, fighting tears of his own. Rose stood up and immediately wrapped him in an embrace. She felt The Doctor’s arms pull her in as tightly as possible and they just stood there a moment, no words passing between them.

“I don’t want a normal bloke,” Rose finally said, managing a small smile, even though The Doctor couldn’t see her, “Normal blokes are so boring. A normal bloke doesn’t come home from work and set off right away building some strange contraption. A normal bloke would go sit on his arse in front of the telly.”

Rose felt The Doctor squeeze her tighter, a sign that what she was saying was helping. 

“There are other options… we could adopt. It won’t be the same, but we would still be raising a child together, and that was what I had wanted in the first place,” she finished.

The Doctor pulled away from Rose and met her eyes, “I want to try something else first.”

“What else is there to try?”

“Back when I… when he... was travelling with Martha, there was a run in with a rather bloodlusting family and he ended up needing to hide my- his... his Timelord heritage. There is this device called a Chameleon Arch that will rewrite my genetic code entirely to that of a full human.”

“I feel like that would be dangerous.”

“Well, it is. Painful, too. There’s also a drawback.”

“Oh no… what?”

“Well, the Chameleon Arch overrides all memories and replaces them with new ones. It was originally intended to be an escape route, not the solution to a problem.”

“There is no way in hell are you doing that.”

“I know. I won’t, I promise, but I want to see if I can rework it, figure out how to change my biology without erasing this,” The Doctor said, gesturing to his head. 

Rose stared at The Doctor with unease.

“Please let me try.”

Rose slowly inhaled, "Promise me you won't do anything daft?"

"I promise," he said, smiling with reassurance. 

Rose finally nodded, "Alright."


	5. Chapter 5

“Mr. Tyler.”

“Yes?”

The Doctor’s boss was an ageing man with glasses that made his eyes seem much smaller than they actually were and an accent that hinted he’d probably spent some time in the United States. He inhaled deeply before he continued, “Is there something going on in your life right now? A lot of your co-workers have come to me complaining about your absent mindedness - more so than usual.”

“Life is a bit complicated right now, yeah.”

“Is it your wife, Mr. Tyler?”

“I don’t see why that matters.”

Mr. Clouse paused for a moment before deciding that The Doctor’s aloofness meant it was a touchy subject.

“Well, I hope you can clear up whatever is distracting you in the near future. There are superiors pressing me to terminate your employment if your performance doesn’t improve.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Clouse.”

“It’s alright, John. I like you; you’ve done some great work for us. I’m not going to let you go unless it continues like this. Just… try to sort out whatever’s on your mind, okay?”

The Doctor nodded.

Mr. Clouse smiled slightly and stood up, “Thank you for coming in, Mr. Tyler.”

They shook hands and The Doctor left his office, quietly closing the door behind him. He stressfully ran his fingers through his hair and tried to remember the last time he had almost been fired. Well, the last time The Real Doctor had almost been fired. It was incredibly hard to hold a steady job with the temptation of the TARDIS. He had to think back a couple of centuries. 

“What did Mr. Clouse want to talk to you about?” Diana, a co-worker, asked as she walked by. 

“Nothing major, just some concerns of his,” The Doctor responded. 

She nodded slightly before continuing down the hallway. The Doctor turned around and made his way back to his desk. He tried to focus the rest of the day, he really did, but his mind was so preoccupied with his plans for when he returned home that it was an impossible task. Engineering small electric fans didn’t hold much interest when he was brimming with an idea on what to do with the Chameleon Arch. Finally, sweet release came and The Doctor had to hold himself back from running home. He allowed himself the pleasure by the time he reached the steps up to the flat.

Immediately the Doctor slid into one of the chairs surrounding the tiny table in their kitchen. An almost finished Chameleon Arch fixed together sat there, begging to be completed. He unscrewed the largest lapcap and pulled out the fusion correlator. It only took a couple of minutes and a great deal of effort from his nails and a flathead to pry out the flashdisk and flip it over. There was an entire network of pathways to reroute on the backside, a few of which he didn’t quite know the purpose of. 

The Doctor leaned in, squinting to find the right one before disconnecting its two ends and rerouting them. It was strenuous to see what he was doing and The Doctor quietly cursed the Time Lords for having to make everything so small. Finally, he reconnected everything and placed the flashdisk back in it’s place. He grinned, all it would take was some reprogramming and a reboot and the device would be working perfectly by late that evening. The Doctor fit everything else back together before screwing the panels onto their respective sides. 

He leaned back with a small sigh. It was all together, the Chameleon Arch no one had ever tried to build before, the Chameleon Arch that would finally fix that hint of unease he constantly saw in his wife’s eyes, the Chameleon Arch that would erase the entirety of his Timelord heritage.

The Doctor began his finishing touches, his tongue poking out of his lips as he worked. It was a habit he’d picked up from Rose. About an hour into his programming he heard the flat door open. His concentration didn’t waver as he was on the final stretch of coding. Rose entered the apartment, still a little exasperated by a run in with some very unintelligent and extremely frustrating customers at the shop. She grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with some Vimto from the refrigerator. She took a few long sips before turning to watch The Doctor work. “You’ve gotten it all together,” she commented with a smile.

“Mm-hm.”

Rose drained her glass before setting it on the counter and moving in closer. The Doctor finished typing the final lines of code and hit enter with a large bounce from his hand, rebooting the system with its new program. He rocketed up from his seat, pulling a surprised Rose in for a tight hug. 

“Why are you so excited?” she laughed. 

“Oh, you have to be very clever to manipulate Time Lord technology the way I just did.”

“I guess that human brain of yours isn’t holding you back too much.”

“Well, not fully human.”

The Doctor released Rose from their embrace and they both turned to stare down at the device sitting on the table. Code ran across the tiny screen faster than she could read it. 

“How long until it’s finished?” she asked.

“A few hours.”

“We should find something to do. Just sitting around waiting for it to finish will be torture, especially for someone as squirrely as you,” Rose said, turning to the Doctor.

“I would fancy trying out that new Peruvian place down the street.”

“Sounds like a plan.”


	6. Chapter 6

Rose tugged her knitted cap down to try and cover more of her ears as she rushed to catch up with The Doctor. “Aren’t you cold?” she inquired, looking up at his uncovered head. “Of course. Why do you think I’m moving so quickly?”

“You should have grabbed a hat.”

“That would have messed up my hair.”

“You are the only one that cares about your hair being perfectly tousled.”

“Oh, don’t give me that. You love the tousled hair.”

“Well, yeah, but I’d rather you be warm.”

“It’s a short walk. We’re already almost there.”

The ground was covered in a layer of snow and even more fell lightly from the sky, adding a kind of magical quality to what normally would have been a cloudy, miserable winter’s day. The Doctor turned around, waiting for Rose to catch up to him. She wrapped his cold hand in her mitten-clad one when she reached him and the couple turned the street corner. The place was busy, but not enough so that Rose and The Doctor weren’t able to get inside and get a seat fairly quickly.

“Have you had Peruvian food before?” The Doctor asked as they both studied their menus.

Rose shook her head, “No, Mum wasn’t really one to be exploratory when it came to meals, especially since we couldn’t afford the expensive stuff.”

“Well, I’d equate it to that little market we stopped by on Uscarth, the one with that strange circus.”

“I think I remember that! We met Toniar there.”

“Really? That’s where we met him?”

“Yeah! I don’t remember what he was buying.”

“Something illegal.”

Rose laughed, “Probably that 'melted Rizer head' he tried to pawn off to you.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised.”

A waiter came to take their orders and a moment of silence fell upon them in his absence. The Doctor met Rose’s eyes with a newfound seriousness. She furrowed her brow with confusion.

“What’s wrong?”

“When this Chameleon Arch rewrites the user’s biology, it's extremely painful. The last time I used it was so excruciating I screamed through the entirety.”

“How long does it last?” Rose asked, greatly concerned.

“This one I would imagine will last about a minute or two.”

“Doctor,” Rose said, taking his hands, “You don’t have to do this. I would be just as happy figuring out something else.”

“No, no, no, I want to do this,” he said with a slight smile, “A little bit of agony to give my wife a baby doesn’t scare me in the slightest. I’d like to think of it as getting a hint of labour pains.”

Rose smiled grimly.

The Doctor leaned back, his hands releasing hers, and smiled nervously as he ran his fingers through his hair, “So, my boss threatened to fire me.”

“What?!”

“Yeah, I’ve been pretty distracted lately.”

“I thought Mr. Clouse really liked you.”

“He does, he does.”

“I knew when you signed up to work there it wouldn’t be enough stimulus for you. Designing fans? It vaguely touches on your interests, but where’s the adventure in designing fans?”

“Where’s the adventure in any job I could get in London? Even if I did find something that allowed me to travel, I’d have to leave you behind, which is definitely something I’m not willing to do.”

“Do you think he’ll actually fire you?”

“Well, he might.”

Their conversation continued as they waited for their food, eventually shifting to lighter subjects, like Rose’s potential promotion to manager and a Shakespearean actor rising in the industry that stroke a striking resemblance to The Doctor. After they had both finished their meals, the couple began their trek back home. Night had fallen outside, and the lamps scattering the street lit up the snow with an artificial yellow glow. 

When they reached their flat, The Doctor rushed towards the Chameleon Arch, checking to see if it had finished. He whizzed around to look back at Rose, who finished closing the door.

“‘S done?” she asked.

He nodded.


	7. Chapter 7

“Are you comfortable?”

“Well, as comfortable as I can be,” The Doctor smirked. He was sprawled out on their couch, his back leaned against one of the pillows Rose had gotten for free from a friend who had moved to a smaller flat. Rose had place the Chameleon Arch firmly on his head and held back a smirk at how silly he looked. The Doctor adjusted some stray hairs hanging in front of his eyes and smiled grimly at her.

“Oh! Rose, the neighbors!”

“What?”

He fished into his pocket before pulling out a handkerchief, “The neighbors would probably not appreciate my screaming.”

Rose frowned sympathetically as The Doctor stuffed part of the rag in his mouth.

His eyes found hers as he reached for the control panel. He took a deep breath through his nostrils before looking down and starting the device. Immediately a wave of shock overtook his body and The Doctor’s hands clenched into fists. His eyes squeezed shut and Rose hated herself for being grateful that she didn’t have to stare into them. Then the screams came, muffled greatly by the cloth, but still excruciating to listen to. Tears formed in Rose’s eyes as she reached for The Doctor’s clenched fist, helpless as to what to do.

“You’re okay,” she said quietly, her hand resting on his fist, “You’re okay. You’re okay. You’re okay.”

The device finished its job after a mere seventy nine seconds, but that’s not what it felt like to either of them. Finally The Doctor’s body relaxed and he opened his eyes. His hands slowly rose to lift the device off his head. Rose stared at him, waiting for something to happen, waiting for him to say he was alright. “How do you feel?” she asked softly. “Thirsty,” he responded with his staple enthusiasm, flashing that familiar grin at her.

Rose felt her chest expand with relief. He was okay. It had worked.

\---

Scans proved The Doctor’s efforts had paid off. His genetics were now 100% human; there wasn’t a trace of Timelord hand in site. At first The Doctor was elated. He had grabbed Rose and pulled her into a tight embrace before snogging her silly. But, as the night went on, Rose saw sadness creep into his face. He had given up the very last bit of his heritage. No longer did he share a trace of the Timelords who had created him. Even though the line that connected him to the very last one had been severed with The Real Doctor’s departure to another universe, he couldn’t help feeling that the tiny trace of what had been left was now fully erased. He didn’t tell Rose this, but she read his emotions like a book.

The next few weeks whizzed by. Jackie and Pete left for another trip, leaving Tony to the couple for a weekend. They entertained him with stories of a Captain Jack Harkness and took him on as many trips to the park as he asked for. The Doctor tackled his job with a newfound enthusiasm and creativity, much to his boss's glee. A new co-worker at the shop entertained Rose during the day with stories of her crazy home life. The nights at home were fantastic. Everything seemed to be turning up. 

Then The Doctor got sick.

At first it was just minor symptoms, a fever and a sore throat. He still trucked to his job, set on keeping himself occupied and distracted. After a few days of his condition only getting worse, The Doctor decided to do a scan of himself. Strep throat. A visit to an actual doctor for medication should have been sufficient.

Much to his frustration, that wasn’t the case. The doctor’s office didn’t turn up with the same results as his device. 

“You just have a cold.”

“I’m pretty sure I have strep, that is what… I have always experienced strep feeling like.”

“No, our test say you don’t." 

"Yeah, but strep tests are only accurate around 70% of the time."

"Where are you getting those statistics?" _My own tests._ "I'm sorry, John, we can't give you medicine when we don't have the evidence to back it up. Just make sure to get lots of water and sleep and you should be fine in a couple of days.”

The Doctor sighed and exited the office. 

“Stupid bloody machinery! Primitive doesn’t even begin to describe how lacking their 'tests' are in any credibility,” he grumbled outside. After allowing himself a moment to cool down, he decided to accept the fact that despite his doctoral status, he didn’t have open access to medication, at least not without engaging in illegal activities. The Doctor had been feeling a little bit better, anyways; hopefully it would all clear up on its own. For now, he decided to take some time off of work to heal… and find a new doctor.


	8. Chapter 8

Rose unlocked the flat and opened the door, sliding the grocery bags in her hands up to hang off of her forearms. She closed the door behind her and made her way over to the kitchen, setting the bags down on the counter. “Doctor?” she called as she went back over to the door to lock it. She knew he was home; with his declining health it was hard for him to leave the house. She felt a wave of anxiety when he didn’t respond. Rose turned around and felt her chest heat up with fear when she spotted a pair of converse clad feet splayed out on the living room floor.

She rushed over to The Doctor who had collapsed on the hardwood floor. His skin was extremely hot to the touch and showed signs of purple bruising. The Doctor’s eyes stared at the ceiling with pain and distance. “Doctor?” she asked urgently, pressing her hand against his neck to feel for a steady pulse, “Doctor, what happened?”

“I really messed up this time,” he said faintly.

His heartbeat was steady but too soft and Rose tried to swallow down her rising stomach. Every second that ticked by made her body feel heavier with fear and her vision began to blur from tears.

“Doctor, what do you mean?”

“I never should have done this to myself.”

“You can’t go back and change something in the past.”

He let out a genuine laugh that was immediately broken by a loud cough, “No, not anymore, can we, Rose?”

The Doctor’s hand moved to gently squeeze hers. The two met gazes and her hand squeezed his as tightly as possible as a sob rose from her chest.

“I’m so sorry,” he said.

She shook her head, “No, no, don’t start that now. I’m gonna call 999.”

Rose fumbled her mobile out of her pocket and shakily punched out the numbers.

“Hello, my husband has collapsed on the floor. I’m not sure what is wrong, but his heartbeat is really faint and he’s burning up. Can you please send out an ambulance?”

Rose tried to breathe as she relayed more information to the operator. The Doctor closed his eyes and she shook him, “No, no, no, don’t fall asleep.”

“The lights-” he said quietly, “Turn off the lights.”

She jumped up and ran over to the light switch, flipping it off before rushing back over to her husband. 

“Better?” she asked.

He tried to nod but ended up groaning in pain.

The paramedics arrived soon after and Rose stood up to let them do the work. She relayed his symptoms the past few days back to them and they gently lifted him onto a stretcher. Rose followed them downstairs, her mind beginning to disassociate from the situation. The ride over to the hospital blurred into an array of colors and tears.

She watched from the lobby as The Doctor was wheeled through a pair of double doors and out of her sight. Her eyes felt dry from the tears and she slowly tried to swallow down her deeply felt anxiety. He had assured her that he was fine, that it was just a simple cold, that he didn’t need to go to another doctor to get himself checked out. Rose took a deep breath and pulled out her mobile.

“Mum?” she asked, her voice shaking.

“Oh no, love, what’s wrong?” her mother’s voice rang through the speaker.

“Mum, he’s in the hospital. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but he’s been sick and it got suddenly worse today, I had to call an ambulance, nobody’s told me anything and I’m worried it’s really bad-”

“Shh, shh, it’ll be alright. Pete and I’ll be over there as soon as we can, just hang in there for a few minutes, okay?”

Rose nodded before remembering she was on the phone, “Yeah, yeah.”

The call ended and Rose was left all alone again. She took a seat in the lobby but quickly decided that she had way too much nervous energy to be sitting. She began to pace, slowly calming herself down enough to stop the tears. He would be fine, the doctors knew what they were doing, he had been brought in soon enough for them to fix whatever had happened. Her calm went out the window as soon as Jackie and Pete entered the room. Rose immediately sought a hug from her mother, the tears falling down her cheeks again.

“Oh, Rose,” Jackie cooed, holding her daughter tightly. Pete watched the embrace with distant concern. 

The double doors that The Doctor had wheeled through earlier opened and a solemn doctor approached the three of them. Pete noticed her first and gently grabbed Rose’s shoulder. She glanced at her father before turning around to face the small, thin woman in her white coat.

“You’re Rose Tyler, yes?” she asked. Rose nodded.

The doctor made eye contact with both of Rose’s parents, “I assume these are your parents. It’s a good thing they are here.” Her eyes fell to the floor as she slowly swallowed before continuing, “Your husband, John, just passed away.” Rose’s hands flew to her face as she felt her entire body go numb with freezing darkness. She didn’t feel her mother’s hand grab her shoulder in comfort. “We’re not sure what happened yet, but it looks like it had something to do with his brain. We’re guessing bacterial meningitis, but we’ll need to do tests to know for sure. I’m so sorry, Mrs. Tyler.”

Rose couldn’t cry, nor could she get angry. All she could do was stand there in stunned silence, her entire world having been ripped out from under her once again. The doctor apologized a second time with complete sincerity, even though Rose’s ears no longer transmitted anything but a quiet ringing. Her white coat disappeared back through those doors, the same doors that had swallowed her husband and would never return him. After everything they’d been through, alien invasions, universe jumping, galactic wars, and all kinds of crazy medical prototypes, the thing that had taken his life was a simple human disease.

Rose was pregnant. She hadn’t told The Doctor because she wanted to wait until he was feeling better. She wasn’t prepared to raise a baby on her own, the whole purpose of everything they’d done was so that they would be raising one together. She couldn’t do it. She wouldn’t do it.

“Rose.”

She blinked and realized her mother had been saying her name, “Rose, look at me.”

She met Jackie’s eyes and was enveloped in a hug again.

“Mum, let go of me.”

Jackie released her daughter and watched with heightened concern as she pulled out her mobile. 

“Who are you calling?” Pete asked. 

Rose met his eyes with a determination he hadn’t seen in years.

“Torchwood.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all of the kudos everyone! Knowing that people are actually interested in reading what I have to write truly kept me going with this story. I don't know when I'll start another fic, but hopefully soon! Thank you again!


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